St. Anthony of Padua: Ready to Give his Blood, Hammer of the Heretics

He is one of the saints whose devotion has been distorted by a certain sentimental piety. May God grant that knowing the facts of his life we will be enabled to honour him as he truly deserves.

Newsdesk (17/06/2025, 5:21 Gaudium Press) Saint Anthony of Padua is one of the most popular saints of the Church. He is also one of the blessed whose devotion has been distorted by a certain sentimental piety. Humble but heroic, earning the title “Hammer of the Heretics”, his tongue, still incorrupt to this day, was like a powerful weapon God used to defeat false teachings that were attacking Holy Mother Church from all sides.

Born rich but chose poverty and religious life

He was born in Lisbon, around 1195, into a wealthy family. He joined the Augustinians, but after hearing about a number of Franciscans martyred in Morocco, the first martyrs of that community, he said to himself that he wanted to give his blood for Christ and follow that path, so he was received into the Order of St. Francis. There his Christian name was changed from Fernando to Antonio.

But when he became a Franciscan and was sent to Morocco, he suffered from dropsy (abnormal accumulation of fluid) and had to return to Europe. In the meantime, the weather conditions of the crossing took him to Italy, more precisely to Sicily. It was the Will of God. God is our master and we must obey His orders, which He manifests in many ways.

In Italy, he attended the first General Chapter of the Order, where he met the great St. Francis, who called him ‘my bishop’.

From Cook to Renowned Preacher

Assigned to the Roman province of Romagna in northern Italy, he led a hermitical life there; but he also served as cook, in all tranquility and humility, he who, when he was only fifteen years old, was one of the greatest connoisseurs of the Holy Scriptures in his time.

However, it was not long before his superiors perceived his outstanding natural and supernatural gifts, and he was sent to preach, not only in Italy but also in France. From 1221 to 1223 he travelled through Romagna, and there he not only expounded the doctrine of Christ and His Church, but also fought against Cathar and Patarine heretics, with great success, so much so that it was said that the heretics were truly terrified of discussions with the Saint of Padua.

Saint Francis of Assisi wanted his community to be not only holy but also learned, and he appointed Saint Anthony as the first lector or professor of theology in the nascent Franciscan Order, assigning him to Bologna.

However, this period of teaching was short-lived, as he was called by Pope Honorius to Montpellier to fight against the heresy of the Waldensians. There he preached, debated and also taught theology, not only in Montpellier but throughout the south of France.

It should be said here that it was not only the light of his learning that brought about his achievements, but that he often performed real miracles in proven facts, which also gave his person the prestige of a miracle worker.

He returned to Romagna

In 1227 he moved back to Romagna, as he had been elected provincial minister.

But by then his natural strength was beginning to diminish, and so he was assigned to the convent of Arcella, near Padua, from where he also went out to preach to wherever he was sent.

He died in 1231, very young, at the age of 36. He was canonized the following year, so evident was his virtue.

He had not died in Padua. When his remains were transferred to Padua, 32 years after his death, the people realized that his tongue was still intact: a miracle with which God wanted to confirm that He Himself spoke through his mouth.

“St. Francis of Assisi appears during a sermon of St. Anthony” – Gallery of Maps, Vatican Museum, Rome

The great number of favours that Providence granted through his intercession, all around the world, led him to be called a ‘universal saint’. He is also a Doctor of the Church.

St. Anthony, Pray for us!  Help us to be heroes and saints!

With information from Catholic.net

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Compiled by Roberta MacEwan

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